Good morning my fitness crew,'
Have you noticed how you feel after a good workout, or how you feel after eating well for a while and notice your body composition changing? Let’s talk about someone who has lost a lot of weight and noticed that he feels better. We will call him John.
John used to be a pre-diabetic, overweight, had unhealthy eating habits, and never worked out or walked much throughout the day. He was tired all the time, had stomach issues, had very little esteem about himself, and overall felt like he was missing out on life in general.
John reached out to me and told me he had never worked out and ate out most of the week and wanted to know what the fitness lifestyle was about. “I see fit people seem to just exist better than me,” he said. He wanted something to do to start feeling better. So I gave him some general direction as he was not sure about a trainer yet. With that direction, he wanted more and we embarked on his fitness journey.
After about 6 months of working with me, he was a completely different person. He was working out 2-3 times a week, and cooked most of his food at home to bring to work as lunch and made better choices when he went out to eat. His doctor told him he was no longer pre-diabetic because he made the necessary changes to his life to improve his overall health.
He later moved on and took up a casual sport and gained a friend group who shared similar interests as him and he was able to self-maintain his health.
This is an inspirational story of someone who took control of their life and health and leads a better lifestyle that makes him feel better.
I want to talk to you today about improving your health with a fitness lifestyle. These days we see a lot of tiredness, sickness, overall fatigue and feeling bad.
We also see a lot of overweight people, unhealthy behaviors, and a lot of self-destructive habits.
How can we combat this?
Let’s outline today’s article with what types of health we want to talk about.
Improving psychological health with exercise.
Improving metabolic health with exercise.
Utilizing nutrition for health.
There is plenty of research with mental and physical health in combination with exercise and nutrition and I want to outline what all the data and anecdotes say about it. People report feeling overall better when they embark on a fitness journey and you might see them not only feeling better, but they want to progress to take their fitness to new levels.
Improving mental health with exercise
We know that commonly these days a lot of people suffer from mental health issues ranging from anxiety to depression and has a range of intensities.
“Risk factors associated with [a] high rate of physical comorbidities [is] a genetic vulnerability in people with mental disorders, side effects of pharmacological treatments, and a poor lifestyle, including unhealthy eating habits, substance abuse, poor sleep, low levels of physical activity, and long periods spent on sedentary behavior.” 1
What we can generally infer from this is if you suffer from something like depression, you may be at risk for a more sedentary and unhealthier type of lifestyle. We also know that younger people tend to have a higher incidence of anxiety, depression, or other type of mental health issues.2
People with depression also spent an average of 476.0 min (7.9 hours) per day being sedentary and risk factors included (not limited to) being male, being single, unemployment, fewer years of education, and a higher body mass index.3
How does exercise improve these?
“Exercise compares favorably to antidepressant medications as a first-line treatment for mild to moderate depression.”4 Doctors are starting to realize that exercise is an important factor when it comes to treatment of mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.
It can seem like a vicious cycle because if you are depressed, anxious, or experience some symptoms that keep you inside, sitting or lying down, and overall sedentary that it can make it worse which leaves you doing the same things over and over again.
What can I do?
Taking a walk during your day increases your activity level and can encourage you to walk more. Going to the gym and completing 2-3 workouts per week can give you a sense of accomplishment and endorphins to encourage you to keep going. When you embark on a fitness journey, changes in body composition can increase your confidence level and leave you feeling better about yourself.
Finding comradery within the gym or a fitness space can increase your confidence and reduce feelings of loneliness. Your friends can help get you up when you’d otherwise stay home in bed or in front of the TV.
Using activities to increase your activity level that are rewarding can lead you to more fulfilling and happy feelings. Do you like gardening, dancing, or hiking? Taking up active hobbies can increase your activity level and also help you feel more rewarded which can lessen your symptoms.
Taking care of your body means taking care of your mind.
Improving metabolic health with exercise
How many people do you see who suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, or other semi-preventable diseases?
If you are someone who is pre diabetic, your option to improve your health is to embark on a fitness journey to improve your health and lifespan. “Interventions involving physical activity have been shown to reduce the risk of developing T2DM by between 47 and 58% in high-risk groups.”5 Reducing your risk of developing diabetes can ultimately lead you to saving your own life in the long run and prevent you from using medications you otherwise would never need.
This could include meeting a step goal for the day, learning to lift weights, or take up an active sport.
How many people these days have high blood pressure? According to the CDC, nearly half of all adults have hypertension which is a BP over 130/80. During some trials, “regular medium-to-high-intensity aerobic activity reduces the BP by a mean of 11/5 mm Hg.”6 If you suffer from high blood pressure, walking, jogging, or other means of cardiovascular activity can reduce you risk for continuing with hypertension. A conclusion of another study notes that they would like to look into resistance training as an option for treating hypertension.7
Participating in a more active lifestyle with added resistance training may be useful in reducing your blood pressure whether you are at risk or have hypertension.
How does resistance training or aerobic exercise affect obesity?
“Exercise has a beneficial effect on metabolic parameters affecting cardiovascular risk, such as lipids and blood glucose, and is a key component in both the prevention and the management of type 2 diabetes.” Exercise interventions can reduce your risk of diabetes up to 58% or help the management of obesity.8
Utilizing nutrition for health
We know that highly nutritious foods are great for our bodies, but how good are they at helping our mental health?
A study noted that there is “support for whole diet and whole food interventions as an adjunctive treatment to improve depression symptomology.”9 There was also "positive result for diets that promote an increased intake of fresh produce, wholegrains, low-fat dairy and lean protein sources, while also decreasing the intake of processed and high-fat foods."10
What types of nutrients should we intake?
vitamin C — mood improvement
vitamin D — improvement in symptoms from anxiety/depression
B vitamins — essential for neuronal function
magnesium — blocks the actions of glutamate in the NMDA receptors. Excessive glutamate activity is also linked to depression. 11
iron — improve fatigue and lack of energy issues.
What should we eat to improve our mental health?
Lean protein sources
Whole grains
Omega 3 and 6 from fish sources
Whole fruits and vegetables
General rule of thumb is minimally processed foods.
What should we eat to improve our metabolic health?
Aim for nutrient-dense, complex carbohydrate sources that are high in fiber, these are filling foods that not only help protect against colon cancer, but also can help in preventing and managing diabetes. Carbohydrates coming from fruit, fructose, “may result in better glycemic control” than regular sucrose or starches — so stock up on some fruit you’d like.12
If you are looking for a diet style, this article recommends “Mediterranean-style diet rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats may be considered to improve glucose metabolism and lower CVD risk.” Or aim for fat sources that are similar in profile to what is presented in the Mediterranean diet.
Live better by making the choices you know you should.
Whether you want to improve your mental health symptoms or seek a treatment outside of medicine that you can easily do, or prevent disease or manage a current one, you should be doing what you can in order to take care of your body and mind.
All cause mortality is reduced when you take more steps in the day. This could be a starting point for you in your habit change. Notice how Europeans or even big, walkable city dwellers tend to have a better body composition? Start with easy things like that — take more walks.
Invest in better food. Invest in less processed food. It’s generally really simple. Life makes the bad things more enticing in the short term, but remember your health is a long term investment.
Schuch F, Vancampfort D, Firth J, Rosenbaum S, Ward P, Reichert T, Bagatini NC, Bgeginski R, Stubbs B. Physical activity and sedentary behavior in people with major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2017 Mar 1;210:139-150. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.10.050. Epub 2016 Nov 29. Erratum in: J Affect Disord. 2018 Jan 1;225:79. PMID: 28033521.
Schuch FB, Vancampfort D. Physical activity, exercise, and mental disorders: it is time to move on. Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2021 Jul-Sep;43(3):177-184. doi: 10.47626/2237-6089-2021-0237. Epub 2021 Apr 21. PMID: 33890431; PMCID: PMC8638711.
Vancampfort D, Firth J, Schuch FB, Rosenbaum S, Mugisha J, Hallgren M, Probst M, Ward PB, Gaughran F, De Hert M, Carvalho AF, Stubbs B. Sedentary behavior and physical activity levels in people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder: a global systematic review and meta-analysis. World Psychiatry. 2017 Oct;16(3):308-315. doi: 10.1002/wps.20458. PMID: 28941119; PMCID: PMC5608847.
Carek PJ, Laibstain SE, Carek SM. Exercise for the treatment of depression and anxiety. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2011;41(1):15-28. doi: 10.2190/PM.41.1.c. PMID: 21495519.
Xiao-Ren Pan, Guang-Wei Li, Ying-Hua Hu, Ji-Xing Wang, Wen-Ying Yang, Zuo-Xin An, Ze-Xi Hu, Juan-Lin, Jina-Zhong Xiao, Hui-Bi Cao, Ping-An Liu, Xi-Gui Jiang, Ya-Yan Jiang, Jin-Ping Wang, Hui Zheng, Hui Zhang, Peter H Bennett, Barbara V Howard; Effects of Diet and Exercise in Preventing NIDDM in People With Impaired Glucose Tolerance: The Da Qing IGT and Diabetes Study. Diabetes Care 1 April 1997; 20 (4): 537–544. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.20.4.537
Börjesson M, Onerup A, Lundqvist S, Dahlöf B. Physical activity and exercise lower blood pressure in individuals with hypertension: narrative review of 27 RCTs. Br J Sports Med. 2016 Mar;50(6):356-61. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-095786. Epub 2016 Jan 19. PMID: 26787705.
MacDonald HV, Johnson BT, Huedo-Medina TB, Livingston J, Forsyth KC, Kraemer WJ, Farinatti PT, Pescatello LS. Dynamic Resistance Training as Stand-Alone Antihypertensive Lifestyle Therapy: A Meta-Analysis. J Am Heart Assoc. 2016 Sep 28;5(10):e003231. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.116.003231. PMID: 27680663; PMCID: PMC5121472.
Lumb A. Diabetes and exercise. Clin Med (Lond). 2014 Dec;14(6):673-6. doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.14-6-673. PMID: 25468857; PMCID: PMC4954144.Lumb A. Diabetes and exercise. Clin Med (Lond). 2014 Dec;14(6):673-6. doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.14-6-673. PMID: 25468857; PMCID: PMC4954144.
O’Neill, S.; Minehan, M.; Knight-Agarwal, C.R.; Turner, M. Depression, Is It Treatable in Adults Utilising Dietary Interventions? A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials. Nutrients 2022, 14, 1398. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14071398
O'Neill S, Minehan M, Knight-Agarwal CR, Turner M. Depression, Is It Treatable in Adults Utilising Dietary Interventions? A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials. Nutrients. 2022 Mar 27;14(7):1398. doi: 10.3390/nu14071398. PMID: 35406011; PMCID: PMC9003461.
https://www.verywellmind.com/magnesium-for-depression-does-it-help-5112650
Gray A, Threlkeld RJ. Nutritional Recommendations for Individuals with Diabetes. [Updated 2019 Oct 13]. In: Feingold KR, Anawalt B, Blackman MR, et al., editors. Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279012/